FAQs

Here you will find the most commonly asked questions we are asked to answer. Please take a moment to look at them as it may save you and us time.

Do you have any goats/sheep available?

We have availability updates right on our homepage. These updates are updated anytime the status changes. Also, if there is not a for sale page for the type of animal, then we don't have any available.

What is the price for a sheep/goat?

Pricing can normally be found on the for sale page (if available, see above). Click on the links below for current pricing.

We no longer use a waiting list. All lambs and kids are sold to the first person to show interest and put down a deposit.

Why don't you use a waiting list?

We have used a waiting list in the past and found it to be time consuming with no added benefit. Many of those on the list decided for one reason or another that they no longer wanted goats at the time. This caused us to lose valuable opportunities to sell to those who were truly interested. This kind of behavior is why many breeders require a deposit up front at the time you are put on the list, to weed out those who aren't serious.

Why don't you disbud/dehorn your goats?

We don't disbud our kids because the danger and pain for the kids is unacceptable to us.

The US is one of only a few countries that habitually disbuds its goats. Most countries leave the horns intact. In fact in IDGR shows not having horns is considered a defect and will cost you points. Just the opposite of here, ADGA and AGS shows require that dairy goats being shown must be disbudded. It is interesting to note that meat breeds of goats are allowed to be horned for showing.

To disbud a kid, you use one of two methods: a disbudding iron or dehorning paste. The iron reaches a temperature in excess of 1000 degrees F and is applied to the hornbuds at 4-7 days of age for 5-10 seconds. Dehorning paste is a caustic(acid) paste that is applied to the hornbuds for a duration of 20-30 minutes. With the iron the kid screams as you would expect any creature to scream that has a hot iron applied to its head, but is over quickly. With the paste, you are left with a screaming kid for 20-30 minutes during which time it cannot be with its mother or herdmates as it might rub caustic on them causing chemical burns.

Okay, so they scream, what are the dangers? Either if applied incorrectly can cause injury to the skull or brain damage. In the case of the paste, blindness and chemical burns can also occur. Disbudding is not 100% effective even when done by a vet. Often small, weak, deformed horns called scurs can grow. These are dangerous to both the animal and the handler, often being sharper than regular horns and prone to breakage causing massive bleeding. They also can grow back towards the animal's head causing pain and infection if not trimmed on a regular basis. Oh, and scurs will disqualify a dairy goat for showing.

Most breeders and registries give the reason that horned goats are more prone to get caught in the fence and die than hornless goats and that horned goats are a danger to their handler. First, stuck in the fence-- all goats will stick their head through any opening that their head will fit through. The solution is fence with openings that are smaller than the goat's head. As to being dangerous to their handler, any animal-horned goat, hornless goat, cat, dog, horse, etc.- can be dangerous to the handler if improperly handled. Most goats do not normally go around butting their handlers and any goat so aggressive as to be a danger should be destroyed like a dog that continues to bite people. Such behavior is not to be tolerated. A handler used to horned goats knows enough to keep tender portions of anatomy out of the horn's way. Being butted by a hornless goat hurts just as much as being butted by a horned goat. Again, this behavior is unacceptable. And just like with any animal, it is not a good idea to leave small children alone with a goat, either horned or hornless. You wooldn't leave your child unattended with a strange dog, the same applies to goats.

The goat below is the product of a failed disbudding. Note that at some time the horn on the right has been broken off.